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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

I just want to add that I am so so happy to have had my very first Instructable featured today in the "Tech" section of Instructables! Go me!

If you have found my tutorial useful, please vote for my Instructable as I have entered it into a "Tools Contest", if you are on a mobile phone, the vote button is on the top left, otherwise, it is on the top right of the page!

Remember to share with me pictures of your ring light too, if you have made one from this tutorial!

I decided to just go ahead and create an Instructable, since you can also download all steps of it in PDF form, please share the above link (or this blog post) with all your friends if you have found it interesting or useful :)

Saturday, March 28, 2015

A request came in after my last post, which asked for my old cupcake printable to come in 4 different pastel shades. I decided to adjust the sizings since I was doing quite a bit of editing, to update the printable, and even worked on a tutorial/guide to accompany the printable :)

This guide includes tips and tricks that any beginner to working with miniature printables will be able to create quickly, batches of neat and professional looking boxes in miniature :) I discuss, with the help of photos, which papers to use, folding, assembly and cutting techniques so that the boxes turn out perfect every single time!

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Hey Everyone! I have made a few new printables, with a new colour, Deep Lavender :D They are currently available for immediate purchase/download at my Etsy store, do take a look!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/snowfern

They are now available at an introductory price, for a limited time only!

Thanks for looking! I welcome custom colour requests, just drop me a line via Etsy Convo and I will set up a custom listing for you (Please provide colour reference in jpg/gif/png format in the convo).

All my printables are for personal use only, but I have also been asked a few times if I would do customizations, or sell licenses for end products. Alas, full customizations are a too complicated to do, but if you would like minor customizations like changing of the word "Bakery" to your bakery name*, I might be able to do so.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Oops! I forgot to blog about this! I had also made a few more videos on how I work on assembling 1:12 miniature cupcakes.

Although I had been meaning to take more photos, especially after an awesome app discovery (re: previous post!), I accidentally dropped my phone while adjusting props and broke the micro USB port thingy T-T. Okay, well, it was still sort of working until I started meddling with it trying to 'fix' it, as it wasn't staying plugged in snugly after the drop, and uhm, in short, ruined it for good *painful laugh*

Well, I bought some replacements off ebay, and am waiting for them to arrive. Good news is, the power adapter for my camera arrived and is working great, so once I am feeling better and able to figure out better lighting and find that headset/mic, new videos can be expected! Meanwhile, I would really appreciate your sharing and commenting on the videos/blog/facebook!

I have put aside plans for the book(s) that I originally planned to do this year. My health is slowing things down, hence my switch to videos and work on improving my photography skills instead. As with many artists, I have set up a Patreon account, which I was hesitant to do at first, but putting aside all my anxieties, a deeeeeeeep and loooooong breath later, here it is:

These past 5-6 years have been an incredible experience for me, and just you reading, commenting, sharing and even buying my work has pushed me to improve upon my craft, and I really do appreciate every single bit of it. Just by sharing my photos, videos and blogs have helped me come out of my shell a little bit too, be a LOT more confident, and a LOT less self-conscious and anxious about whether I'm doing good work or not. So thank you all, and I hope to continue in this journey of miniatures with you :)

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Final part of Watch Me Work - 1:6 scale miniature Raw Prawn Nigiri, now with music!

I want this post not just to be an update, but also a review of an app that I absolutely ADORE. My brain must have swollen up quite a bit the past week as I made myself sit down and concentrate on honing my photography skills. It just seems a waste to have, what I've been told many times over, a good DSLR, and not let it reach its full potential. Or at least, enough to do what I would like for it to do....

TECHNICAL WORDY POST AND REVIEW OF DSLRDASHBOARD APP HERE!

The main thing I've learnt (which I had always suspected) was that I needed to stabilize it. The depression of the shutter button was sufficient to result in a blurry photo, especially since I hadn't yet educated myself in the technical stuff like shutter speed, ISO and apertures etc. Which I have, now, sort of. Those terms meant nothing to me even though people have mentioned, and I have read in articles and manuals, countless times, as there was no practical application and experience for me to make it meaningful in my mind.

After 2 backbreaking days of acquainting myself with the whistles and bells of my Canon EOS 600D, I decided to finally purchase a tripod and remote shutter thingamabob. The tripod was a quick and dirty purchase, in the sense that true camera enthusiasts and professionals will balk at the plastic 'starter' tripod I got, but heck, like I've previously mentioned, I am financially barely scraping by and even SGD$17 is a big deal to me. The remotes available were upwards of SGD$30, and although I did set aside $50 for the accessories, it didn't seem justifiable as I could get one off greedbay for SGD$5, free shipping! But again, that meant I had to wait at least 3-4 weeks for it to arrive. Momentum being what it is, I didn't want to break my stride, and today I went to purchase an SGD$12 micro USB adapter/host, also known as an OTG cable for my Samsung devices.

(Valore is the house brand that Challenger carries. There are many more affordable options but I didn't want to spend hours travelling to and from Sim Lim just to save a few dollars)

This decision was made after stumbling across a number of apps that offered remote capabilities for various brands of DSLRs. Although not stated to support the Canon 600D, DSLRDashboard was the first free app which informed me that the only hardware required (which had multiple uses, when compared to a stupid shutter release button) was a cable/adapter! SOLD! I took my chances, figuring I could use it with my other storage devices if it didn't work.....

GREAT THING IT DID! SO So sooooo pleased ^_^

It was extremely EXTREMELY easy to use DSLRDashboard. The black USB cable is the cable I use to connect my DSLR to the laptop....so instead of doing that, just connect it to your handheld device. Just remember though:

"Not all phones/tablets are compatible. You need at least 4.x Android or higher with USB host support."

(yeah, it didn't work with my Samsung Galaxy Core Prime :( )

The interface indicated Nikon many times over, and in re-reading the specifications, it seems the app wasn't meant for Canon, but worked anyway, so I'm not complaining :P Especially since it's FREE and so easy to use!!!! I can't stress that enough!

Here's a screenshot from my Samsung Note 2. This is the Live View mode, just click on the "LV" button (top row, 4th button) to view what your DSLR is set up for. I haven't yet fully explored the functions, but the ones I have tried are the EV Mode and ISO settings at the bottom bar (highlighted in green)

See what I mean by "Nikon indicated" hehehe. Anyhoo, the app auto-detected my camera as soon as it was connected and turned on. My favourite to use with macro shots was the 5x and 10x live view settings at the bottom row.

Clicking on "5x" brought up this live preview .....of course, I had my camera set to Manual focus, with the EFS18-55mm lens. Maybe if I could afford a 2K macro lens I wouldn't have had to figure all this out, ah well, #firstworldproblems :X

There you have it.

OH oh, nearly forgot about the sample photo ey....

oops dusty :P Fired off a quick shot as I was so excited to do this post :)

You can click on the above 3 pics for a closer look. These were also taken with the help of the DSLRDashboard app :) I think my fave fave fave thing about doing this is I don't have to contort my body and squint at the teeny camera monitor anymore!

Hope you've enjoyed reading this post, or at least watching the videos :) You may also click on the following link to watch all 3 videos in a playlist.

Remember to Subscribe, Like, Comment and Share if you wish to show your support for all the hard work I've put into these videos...if my health permits I would love to make more videos for you to enjoy ^_^

I call this series of videos "Watch Me Work" because I am actually working on a paid commission for this sushi set. Pity I hadn't figured out how to use my DSLR better before I started or I would have had better documentation XD Then again, who knows!

Since the old laptop hiccuped, I swapped it out for this new, or rather, the fiance's ex-laptop. This meant that I have loads more memory to save videos and photos. Best of all, it means it has a WORKING DVD DRIVE which meant, I could finally install the Canon Utilities that came with the camera!!! Which I had previously given up on.......and with the remote and live view capabilities, sharper images and easier photosessionssssssssssss AHHHHHH!!! The last weekend was spent hunting down a cheap tripod, even though I had been advised to invest in one, it is simply not possible at the moment. All my angpow $ has gone to paying for wedding-related stuff......so I got a cheapo SGD$17 plastic tripod from Challenger....well, it works for now, until I can afford better :)

So to celebrate my new skillsets and improved photography, I have taken about 6 videos documenting -most- of my process for this raw prawn nigiri....it is so difficult for me to concentrate on keeping my hands in frame, and worrying about battery life (no power adapter) and focus simply distracts me from my actual -paid- work, 'sides, when I work on minis, the world drops away and time slips and slides from me...........*blissful look*

Where was I? Oh yes!

This little thing :D I've taken videos of the whole process up to the painting portion, which I had to give up on since there was no way for me to record the painting as I often hitch my glasses up onto my head and squint while painting it, oh, maybe 5cm away from my nose? Bifocals might be a necessity soon T-T @_@

Editing the videos take up a lot of time, this first one took me a good 6 hrs as I tried to figure out all the functions in Windows Movie Maker. Tried to install Lightworks as I wanted to add a logo, alas, all sorts of errors kept popping up and....*heavy sigh*

Will continue editing part 2 tomorrow, meanwhile, please enjoy the video, and remember to Subscribe, Like, Comment and Share if you wish to see more of "Watch Me Work"!

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. - Rainer Maria Rilke

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Google retired friend connect on Mar 1st 2012 :(
http://support.google.com/friendconnect/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2440229
it seems many of my 'members' or 'followers' have disappeared, i don't know how many, but definitely over 500? i've added the blogger gadget above, kindly 'join' again if you would like to be updated when this blog is.
T-T